


A Simple Touch

by MaeveBran



Category: Captain America (2011), The Avengers (2012), Thor (2011)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-07
Updated: 2012-04-18
Packaged: 2017-10-30 18:18:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/334689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaeveBran/pseuds/MaeveBran
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Darcy's latest relationship breaks up, Steve joins her in the traditional mopey movie night.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Darcy Lewis curled up on the couch in the rather impressive home theater room of the Avengers’ Tower, watching sad chick flicks. She was unexpectedly alone on a Friday night and thus the reason for the sad movie marathon. She had been expecting to be out with Larry, her low level SHIELD scientist boyfriend of two months, but that very afternoon he’d broken up with her when she’d refused to use her friendship with Jane to get him transferred to the Avengers’ science team. Darcy was sad and disappointed. Not that she had fancied herself in love with Larry but because it meant she was the only one home on a Friday night. Jane and Thor had left yesterday for a month long diplomatic mission to Asgaard. Tony Stark was in California on business (and to see his girlfriend Pepper Potts who ran said business). Even Dr. Banner was visiting his girlfriend at Culver University.

The door opened and the only other Avenger, Captain Steven Rogers, entered the room.

“Oops,” said Steve. “I didn’t think anyone would be here.”

“Yeah, well, my plans fell through,” Darcy said as she hit pause on the DVD.

“Oh,” Steve replied as he turned to leave.

“That doesn’t mean you can’t join me,” Darcy invited. She liked Steve. They had spent a fair amount of time together when she was first hired at SHIELD because he’d been her assignment. She was assigned to try to catch him up on the Twenty-first Century. But it had been a few weeks since he had been deemed caught up enough to not need a teacher any more. 

He turned and walked over to the couch and looked pointedly at her feet which had been taking up the whole space. She curled tighter and made room for him.

“What are you watching?” Steve asked as she reached for the remote.

“Sad movies,” She replied. “This one is called P.S. I Love You.”

Steve nodded and watched with her.

After that movie finished, Darcy got up from the couch, declaring, “Munchie break.”

Steve got up and followed her to the kitchen as she made popcorn.

“So why sad movies?” Steve asked.

“Because the shithead I’d been dating broke up with me,” Darcy said as she grabbed a bottle of rum and started to make pinna coladas to go with the popcorn. “You want one?” she asked gesturing to the adult beverage she was mixing.

“Sure, but if your plan is get me drunk and have your way with me, let me remind you I can’t get drunk,” Steve said with a smile. He was sure that prior to being assigned, to teach him anything, that she had been given and read his file.

“Interesting thought,” Darcy said as she pretended to think it over. “But that wasn’t my plan. I just didn’t want to drink alone, because that is just pathetic.”

“Then I’ll be glad to keep you company,” Steve smiled, glad he was good for something.

When the snacks and drinks were ready, he carried the drinks and the pitcher with seconds while she carried the bowl of popcorn. Once they settled on the couch and she had put in the next movie – The Notebook.

“So what did the shithead do?” Steve asked.

Darcy looked at Steve. In all the time she had known him, she had never heard him swear. It was sort of unreal. 

“What?” Steve asked after awhile of her continued stare.

“I’ve never heard you swear before,” Darcy said. “I thought you were incapable of it.”

Steve laughed. “Is that what everyone thinks?”

Darcy nodded. She hit pause on the movie because this conversation just got more interesting than the movie she had been watching for the dozenth time.

“Just because I don’t use words like Shit, damn, and fuck on a regular basis that I’m some sort of goody two shoes, incapable of swearing?” Steve chuckled.

“Yeah, pretty much,” Darcy agreed.

“What you all seem to forget is that I was in the Army in the middle of a war. I assure you that I have heard and used a lot worse language than that,” Steve explained. “I just chose not to on a daily basis because there is a time and place for profanity and the workplace or the presence of a lady is not that time or place.”

“Makes sense,” Darcy agreed as she took a long drink of her beverage. She was just trying to wrap her mind around the fact that she had just gotten the ultimate Boy Scout, Captain America, to cuss.

“Now that we’ve decided that I am human and am capable of acting like it,” Steve said. “What did the shithead do to make you watch sad movies on a Friday night?”

“He dumped me because I wouldn’t use my influence to get him reassigned to the Avengers’ Labs,” Darcy said. She drained her drink and poured another.

“Right. That was a dick maneuver,” Steve agreed. He picked up his drink and caught her stare again. “I don’t know much about women, as I have been repeatedly told, but I do know enough to not try to date someone to advance a career. You deserve better than that.”

“Thanks for that,” Darcy said. She hit play and they watched in silence until the credits rolled.

When the credits ended, Darcy looked around to find that she was leaning against Steve and he had an arm around her shoulders. She didn’t remember how she got there but it was nice and comfortable. His faster metabolism must run hotter than a normal human because he was very warm.

Steve stretched and moved his arm from around her. “So what’s next?”

“Um, why don’t you pick?” Darcy offered. She sat up and then stood to stretch herself. “I’ll be right back.”

When she returned, she was surprised by the movie selection he’d made. She was expecting some sort of classic movie from his time or an action movie but he had chosen the original Producers.

“Why this one?” Darcy asked as she resumed her seat in her corner of the couch.

“Because Tony recommended it to me and from what I read it is supposed to be funny,” Steve explained.

“You do know it makes fun of the Nazis, right?” Darcy said, concerned that a man who had fought Hitler and his army might not find “Spring Time For Hitler” funny or tasteful.

“I can think of no better people to make fun of,” Steve said as he settled back on the couch with his second drink. Darcy poured the last of the pitcher of adult beverages into her glass and enjoyed the movie. To her surprise, Steve not only liked it, he laughed ‘til she thought he’d fall off the couch.

“I didn’t think it was that funny,” Darcy said as the credits rolled.

“Maybe not, but clearly it was what I needed,” Steve said. “So what’s next?”

“I was thinking it was probably time to be getting to bed,” Darcy said with a giggle. The phrasing she chose immediately conjured up images of the two of them in bed together. She’d bet that Captain America would be beyond amazing in bed since he was practically perfect in everything else he did. “But not together,” She said to make it clear she hadn’t expected him to join her.

“It’s all right, Darcy,” Steve said with another of those devastatingly handsome smiles. He should totally do that more, she thought. “I knew what you meant.”

“Good,” Darcy said as she stood. She must have made the drinks too strong because she was feeling unsteady on her feet.

“You ok?” Steve asked as he got up and caught her before she fell and hurt herself.

“No, but I will be,” She said.

He hoisted her up into his arms and carried her to her bed. He took off her slippers and put her under the covers.

“Could you stay for a while?” Darcy mumbled. “You’re so warm.”

Steve smiled and sat next to her. “Only for a little while,” he said, blushing and glad she wasn’t looking at him.  
She did look up in time to see the blush fade.

“Oh my gosh, you’ve never been alone with a woman in her bed room before have you?” Darcy asked.

“What gives you that idea?” Steve said trying not to sound embarrassed.

“I don’t know,” Darcy said. “But I’m right, aren’t I?”

“You are,” he said. “Just go to sleep. You’ll hate yourself for this in the morning.”

“No I won’t,” Darcy said. She snaked an arm around his neck and pulled him down next to her.

“Darcy,” Steve started to object.

“Relax, Captain,” Darcy said. “I just want to use you as a pillow.” She proceeded to drape herself over him and fall fast asleep.

Steve stayed where he was. He was amused. A drunk Darcy was interestingly bossy. And he here he was finally sleeping with a woman. Literally sleeping with her. Sure he could move at any time but he found it comforting in a way he hadn’t known he’d needed. No one touched him more than necessary to help him up or take his blood or any other task that caused a brief contact of one human to another. He hadn’t had much human contact before Project Rebirth either, not after his mother died. Sure Bucky patted him on the back and occasionally hugged him like all good friends but that had been a long, long time ago. Here in this time, he was more legend than man and no one thought that he’d have the simple needs of all humans to have contact with their fellows in friendly and uncomplicated ways. So while he hadn’t planned on sleeping with Darcy tonight, the fact that he was here and being used as a human pillow was something he was going to enjoy. Simple and uncomplicated touch of one human to another brought a measure of peace that Steve hadn’t even known he needed. And reveling in that peace, he fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Darcy woke the next morning with Captain America spooning her. She knew that she really should call him Steve even in her mind but still he was Captain frigging America and that was the first thought that passed through her mind. Her second thought was that she had forgotten having sex with him. Then she registered that they were both still fully clothed so there probably had been no sex. She was both relieved and disappointed. The disappointment was obvious but the relief came from knowing she hadn’t corrupted the symbol of American justice and freedom. It would have gotten her a lecture form every one of the other Avengers and probably Agent Coulson and that was a thought too terrifying to contemplate at 11 AM after a drunken movie fest.

She moved to get up and Steve moved his arm from her waist.

“Morning,” he said. “How are you feeling?”  
“Not bad, all things considered,” she said as she got out of bed. “I’ve been drunker and had worse hang overs. How about you?”  
“That was the best night’s sleep I’ve had in quite some time,” Steve said, smiling up at her. “Thank you.”  
“For what?” Darcy asked, confused.  
“For seeing me as a human and not a national symbol and treating me as such,” Steve said as he got out of bed as well.  
“You’re welcome,” Darcy said as she disappeared into the bathroom. How could she have missed Steve’s basic problem? She thought as she did her business. Ever since he’d woken up, everyone had treated him like a national symbol, no different than the flag or the eagle on the Presidential seal and not as a man. How lonely that must make a person? She figured that it had been different during the war because according to his file, he’d had his best friend from growing up with him and love interest who had known him before the transformation. They must have treated him like a man and not a symbol. In this time everyone was over awed by his reputation and he had to keep it up so no one had thought to treat him like a man. She vowed to herself to treat him like any other man despite his national symbol status.

She walked out of the bathroom to find that Steve was no longer there. She was a little sad but relieved she could get dressed in peace. She quickly changed out of the sweats she had been wearing last night and into a tee shirt and jeans. Then she ventured into the living room area of her apartment.  
Steve must have wondered back to his apartment while she was occupied, because he wasn’t there either. She shook her head and went to her kitchenette. Sure she could have gone to the big kitchen for breakfast, but she needed coffee and she needed it now. She was surprised to find a note propped up against the already made coffee in the pot.  
Darcy, Join me for breakfast in the big kitchen. Steve.  
She poured herself a cup of coffee and inhaled it. Then poured herself another and took it with her as she wondered out to the main kitchen.  
There she found Steve making breakfast. He had a pan full of eggs cooking, a plate full of bacon and sausage, and a small mountain of toast ready. 

“I hope you’re hungry,” he said as she settled onto one to the bar stools facing him.  
“I am, but not that much,” she teased. “I think I might be able to eat a quarter of that.”  
“I didn’t think you would eat more than that,” he said sheepishly. “ I need to eat a lot…”  
“The whole metabolism works four times faster thing,” Darcy said. “Yeah, I read the file.”  
“I wasn’t sure what was in it,” Steve muttered.  
“A whole lot of stuff,” Darcy said. “I’m sure Coulson would let me show it to you if you wanted to read it.”  
“No, that’s ok,” Steve said as he turned his attention back to the eggs on the stove. “But you can tell me the high lights. Does it include any photographs before the serum?”  
“Yes, there is one from the start of your training at Fort LeHigh,” Darcy said. “You were a cutie.” She sipped her coffee, enjoying the sight of Steve sputtering.  
“A cutie? Really?” Steve asked. “You really think so?”  
“You sound surprised?” Darcy said.  
“The women of my time didn’t agree with you,” Steve answered.  
“Well they were stupid,” Darcy said. He fixed her with a disbelieving look. “You may have been shorter and scrawnier but your face didn’t change much and that has always been handsome.”  
Steve nodded as a blush crept up his face. Darcy smiled into her coffee cup. It really was fun making Steve blush.  
He pulled out a couple plates from a cupboard and dished up the food and slid a plate to her.  
“So anything else interesting in the file?” Steve asked as he took a seat on the bar stool next to her.  
“It mentioned a Sgt. James Barnes and an Agent Carter being your particular friends and then the rest of your team,” Darcy said as she dug into her food.  
“I figured they’d be in there,” Steve said as he dug in to his food as well.  
“Did you look up to see what happened to them?” Darcy asked.  
Steve doesn’t answer until he cleaned the plate of food. “Yeah. One of the first things I looked up on the internet.”  
Darcy finished her food and asked, “And what did you find?”  
“All dead except Lady Falsworth,” Steve said as he hunched his shoulders and looked like a lost kid. “And she is living in an assisted living home in England.”  
Darcy reached over and put a hand on his shoulder. “Agent Carter married Lord Folsworth? Your Lieutenant?”  
“Yes,” Steve said. “They had a couple of kids.”  
“I’m sorry,” Darcy said as she squeezed his shoulder in sympathy.  
“I’m just glad she had a happy life,” Steve said. He got up and put the used dishes in the dishwasher.  
Darcy looked at the way his shoulders slumped and how depressed he looked now. Great. She went from possibly seducing Captain America to making him depressed to be here. She had to do something to fix this. Not only did she worry about having broken Captain America, but she had made her friend sad. And when did that happen? That Steve had gone from an assignment to a friend? Probably somewhere over pinna coladas and sad movies last night.  
“So what are your plans for the day?” Darcy asked.  
“I was going to work out in the gym and catch up on paperwork,” Steve answered.  
“Ok, that is pathetic,” Darcy said. “You’re coming with me.”  
Steve looked at her and raised an eyebrow.  
“We’re in New York, and I haven’t had a chance to see much of the city,” Darcy said. “And I doubt you’ve had much of a chance to see how the city has changed.’  
“Other than going out for missions, I haven’t even been back to the old neighborhood,” Steve agreed.  
“So meet me at the elevator in an hour,” Darcy said as she walked back to her apartment.


	3. Chapter 3

For the two weeks after they explored the city, Darcy only saw Steve at briefings and in passing around the tower. They waved and nodded and acknowledged each other but no more than necessary.

That ended late one night when Darcy answered a knock on her door. She opened it to see Steve standing there looking lost. She knew they had been on a mission, Coulson had told her. She also knew that the Avengers had gotten battered and bruised but had returned home more or less intact.

“Bad day at the office?” she asked as she stepped back to allow him into her quarters.

“Yeah,” he answered as he came into the living room area of the apartment. “But not as bad as it could be.”

“I heard that Natasha has a broken leg and Clint a concussion,” Darcy said as she shifted on her feet nervously. 

“Yeah,” Steve agreed. “Clint should be fine in a few days and Natasha will be better in six weeks.”

“She’s going to be a pain in my ass isn’t she?” Darcy said with a sigh. Agent Romanov out of commission to fight battles is an Agent Romanov that will be around headquarters looking for something to do and Coulson will assign Darcy to take care of the unpleasant task of keeping her occupied.

“I’m afraid so,” Steve said as he smiled ruefully. He looked around nervously. “I shouldn’t have come here . . .”

“Why not?” Darcy said. “We’re friends right? If friends can’t commiserate on bad days, what are they for?”

“I guess,” he agreed.

“Want something to drink?" Darcy said as she went to the kitchenette at the far end of the room. Steve caught her eye and raised an eyebrow. “I meant any sort of liquid refreshment, not booze since that would be a waste on you.”

“I’ll take coffee if you got it,” he answered and followed her.

Darcy made coffee and set the machine to percolate. 

“Why don’t you get comfortable, it will be a few minutes before it’s ready,” she suggested.

Steve went over to the couch and perched awkwardly on it. He wasn’t sure just what had driven him here at almost midnight. The Avengers had returned from a five day mission in South America four hours ago. That time had been taken with medical exams and briefings. For some reason when Coulson had dismissed him, Steve’s first thought was to find Darcy. But now that he was here he couldn’t figure out why.

Darcy carried the two mugs over and handed him one before she sank on to the other corner of the couch.

“Wanna talk about it?” Darcy asked.

“No,” Steve said. “I just want to be…”

“A human being for a while and not a super soldier?” Darcy completed. She had figured out the last time he had spent time with her that the job took a lot out of him and he needed to be normal occasionally.

“How did you know?” Steve asked surprised.

“Last time you hung out with me you mentioned how you liked that I treated you like you were just another man and not Captain America. It wasn’t hard to figure out,” she said as she sipped her coffee.

“Oh,” Steve said as he drank his beverage.

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Darcy said. “Everyone wants to be liked for themselves.”

Steve nodded. He drained his coffee cup and set it down on the coffee table.

“So what’s new with you?” he asked.

“Not much,” Darcy said. “Coulson keeps me running with all the paperwork you and your team create.”

“Sorry,” Steve said.

“Don’t be. It’s way more interesting than anything I could use my degree on,” she answered with a yawn.

“Am I keeping you up?” he asked embarrassed that he had barged in here so late just because he hadn’t wanted to be alone.

“A little,” Darcy answered.

“I’ll just go,” Steve said as he started to get up.

“No don’t,” Darcy got up. “I have an idea. I’ll be right back.”

She didn’t wait for him to answer but rushed into her bedroom and quickly changed into flannel pajama pants and a tee shirt and grabbed the quilt her Grandma had made for her high school graduation. She took the quilt with her back in to the living room.

“What do you want to watch?” She asked as she stopped by her TV and BluRay player.

“Huh?” he asked.

“Here’s the plan, you watch a movie or two and I curl up and use you as a pillow,” Darcy smiled. “Again.”

He smiled back, remembering the last time she had used him as a pillow. “I don’t know. You pick something.”

Darcy put in Singin’ In the Rain and took her spot next to him. He raised his arm so she could snuggle next to him and then draped it across her shoulder. She spread the quilt across them and used the remote to start the movie.

“So what is this?” Steve asked as he pointed at the TV.

“Singin’ in the Rain,” Darcy said. “I know it came out a few years after you disappeared but I thought it would be more your type of movie than anything else I’ve got.”

“Oh,” he said. “Gene Kelly? Did I ever tell you I met him?”

“Nope, but I’m not surprised,” Darcy slurred as she dropped off to sleep.

Two hours later, Darcy woke to find that Steve had fallen asleep as well. He had his head tipped back into the corner of the couch and was lightly snoring. On anyone else it would look ridiculous but somehow Steve managed to make the undignified position look sexy. She really shouldn’t keep using him as a pillow but it was too comfortable. She was highly tempted to twist in his arms and lean up and kiss his neck. Fortunately, he woke before she had much time to do anything but think about it.

“Is it over?” Steve asked as he looked at the screen, which was now on the menu.

“Yeah,” Darcy said.

“I should go,” he said with a yawn.

“When was the last time you slept?” she asked.

“Uh, day before yesterday?” he guessed. “Unless you count the hour I got on the flight back.”

“If you go to your apartment, will you sleep?” she asked.

He hung his head, “Probably, eventually.”

“After you finish your after action report, check on Clint and Natasha, and several other important things,” Darcy said.

“Yeah, probably,” he agreed.

“Thant’s it, you’re sleeping here,” Darcy said. She got up and extended her hand towards him. He took it and allowed her to tow him towards her bed room. “Now strip, soldier.”

“Um, Darcy?” Steve asked, his cheeks burning with embarrassment.

“Oh for heaven sakes, I meant your shirt and pants,” Darcy said with her hands on her hips.

“Right,” Steve said as he followed orders.

Darcy went into the bathroom and brushed her teeth. When she came out Steve was standing by the bed unsure of what to do. 

She turned back the covers and crawled into bed. She held them open for Steve to join her and he did. Once he was settled, Darcy turned out the lights.

“How did you talk me into sleeping with you again?” Steve asked in the darkness.

“I used my feminine wiles on you, of course,” Darcy said.

“Oh,” he replied.

“Now go to sleep,” she ordered.

“Ma’am, yes, ma’am,” he replied.

Steve lay silent next to her, not even touching her. This wasn’t going to help. He was sure now, that what had driven him to her door tonight was a hope of a repeat of that night two weeks ago. He’d been more Captain America than Steve Rogers for the last week. He wanted to be treated like a guy and Darcy was the only one he knew of who would do that.

“I can hear you thinking over there,” Darcy said, interrupting his thoughts. “Is there something you want?”

“Will you let me hold you?’ he asked.

“Sure,” she said as she scooted closer. He wrapped an arm around her and they fell asleep.

The next morning, Darcy woke to find that during the night she had sprawled all over the good Captain. This was beginning to become a habit. Not that it was a bad habit, but she had never spent this much time with a man in her bed without sex being involved. Right then, the fantasy about having sex with Captain America came back in full force. Darcy shook her head and tried to extract herself from Steve without waking him, because the last thing she needed was for him to guess the direction of her thoughts. That would lead to all sorts of awkward.

Unfortunately the luck, that smiled on her enough to land Captain America in her bed for the second time that month, had turned into a fickle bitch and turned on Darcy and Steve woke up at the first motion she made to move away.

“Morning,” Steve said with a smile. “This is becoming a habit I could get used to.”

“You’re not the only one,” Darcy replied as she slipped out of his arms and into the bathroom.

When she came out a few minutes later it was in time to see him sit up, and damn that was a fine view. He wasn’t wearing a shirt and his back muscles rippled as he stretched. Darcy had to stop herself from drooling. Then he stood up and the sight of Steve in just boxers first thing in the morning was almost enough to overwhelm her nervous system. She had to shake her head to clear it. There was no way this was going to end in any of her sudden fantasies and she had to do something to avoid the awkwardness that was sure to result from her line of thinking. The view just kept getting better and better as he bent down to get his pants and step into them. It was then that Steve had turned enough to see her staring at him.

“What?” Steve asked.

“Nothing,” Darcy said as she walked over to her closet and pulled out that day’s business attire.

“You were staring,” Steve pointed out.

“Yes, I was,” Darcy admitted.

“Why?” he asked.

“As if you don’t know,” Darcy teased.

“I really don’t,” he admitted.

“Haven’t you noticed the way women look at you these days?” she asked.

“A little, but I never know why,” he said.

“Take it from this woman that you are the embodiment of every woman’s fantasies of perfection,” Darcy said, blushing. 

“Oh,” Steve said as he blushed even redder than her. “Is that why you let me hang out with you? I thought you like me for me not because of the way I look.”

“I do like you for you,” Darcy said. She walked over to him and looked him in the eye. “Most of the time, I don’t notice your looks. I’ve kind of gotten used to it. But sometimes it takes me by surprise.”

“Oh,” Steve knew he should have something intelligent to say to that but he didn’t. On the one hand he was relieved that his friend didn’t just see him as a fantasy come to life. But on the other hand, he was kind of offended that she could just forget about the way he looked. Not that he was conceited or anything but he had noticed how women reacted while he’d been on tour all those years ago and he knew how they continued to react.

“So what did I do to catch you off guard this morning?” Steve asked, wanting to know how he could make this easier for her in the future to forget everything but who he was as a person.

“I had never seen you in such a state of undress,” Darcy said. 

Steve picked up his shirt and pulled it over his head. “I’ll try to remember to keep covered.” He smirked.

“That would be a real shame,” Darcy said with answering smile. “But it would be less distracting.”

She looked at the clock. “Shit, I have twenty minutes to get to my desk.”

“Why don’t I make coffee while you get dressed,” Steve suggested.

“That would be fabulous,” Darcy said.

Steve left her room so she could get dressed. 

Fifteen minutes later, Darcy came into her living area looking ready for a day at the office. It was some sort of speed record but she had managed to get dressed, do her hair and make up in that time. She wondered if the super efficiency of SHIELD was rubbing off on her.

Steve handed her a cup of piping hot coffee. She sputtered from the hot liquid when she tried inhale it. 

“Slow down.” Steve said.

“I don’t have time,” Darcy said. “I’ll be late to work. Then Coulson will give me that disappointed stare and the day will be crappy because I’ll be trying to make up for it and not succeeding.”

“Coulson won’t mind, if I walk you to your office,” Steve said with a grin. “He’ll assume you got the jump on the day and started the process of the after action paperwork with me.”

“You’d do that? Tell a little white lie? For me?” Darcy asked, wondering if she had actually corrupted Captain America.

“What’s the use of being perceived as perfect if I can’t occasionally use it to cover for a friend?” Steve asked with raised eyebrow. “Besides I do need to get more forms for my reports.”

Darcy laughed and sipped her coffee. When she finished, she and Steve set off for her office. She was five minutes late and Coulson looked up ready to give her the stare but when he saw Steve, he merely nodded and went back to his paperwork.


	4. Chapter 4

A week later, Darcy had a very bad day, that stretched into the night. She had started the day trying to find something for Natasha to do but apparently filing paper work was not what the Black Widow meant when she said she needed something to do. Nor was it a good idea to let her into the file room without checking her for weapons. When Joe, the intern from accounting, surprised her she had pulled some of her new throwing stars out of the top of the cast on her leg and threw them at poor Joe. Natasha’s aim wasn’t affected by her injuries and the stars landed in Joe’s chest. Fortunately, as soon as the stars left her hands, Natasha had realized her mistake and called for the medics. Joe was going to be fine but it meant Darcy had more paperwork to do over the incident on top of everything else. That kept her later than normal.

Being in the office that late got Coulson’s attention and then a lecture on not getting distracted at work and that baring emergencies, like Loki invading, the work day ends at 5PM on the dot, Ms. Lewis. Darcy tried to explain but since Loki hadn’t been involved, Coulson didn’t want to listen since he was on his way home to watch Supernanny. At least it was Friday and no one would expect her in the office tomorrow.

So now it was after eight and Darcy was just returning to the living quarters of the tower. She didn’t want to be alone, nor did she want to see either of the happy couples in the tower. Dr. Banner had never been a particular friend and she didn’t want to risk a Hulk incident with her sad sob story of a day. Agent Barton had come to get Natasha and try to keep her occupied for the rest of the day. Darcy so did not need to see either of them. It would just bring the badness back. That left only one person she could go to. Suddenly the night was looking up.

Darcy knocked on Steve’s door. She had never been inside but knew where it was. It was marked on the map of the evacuation routes off the floor, as was everyone else’s rooms. Yes, Darcy studied that map and knew the evacuation routes by memory. She had figured it the safe and prudent thing to do when she was living with super heroes. Who knew when the bad guys might attack and you might need to flee for your life.

Steve answered the door after a few minutes. He seemed surprised to see her but glad to see her none the less.

“Darcy, what are you doing here?” Steve asked as he stepped back to let her into his living space.

“I, uh, had a bad day at the office,” Darcy said, as she stepped in and looked around. The apartment was as luxurious as every other one in the tower but lacked in possessions. It made sense, the man had only been thawed out for a couple months. (And when had that become her life? When did being friends with a super soldier from the nineteen forties who had been frozen and thawed like a Thanksgiving turkey become normal?) The walls, however, were filled with drawings and paintings of people, all signed with SR. The only non-standard furniture was a drafting table under the exterior window. It was covered with sheets of papers and a small table set next to it filled with containers of pencils and brushes and tubes of paint and other art supplies.

Steve looked her up and down and took in her rumpled state of dress, the sad look in her eyes, and the forlorn expression and concluded she needed a friend tonight. Her tummy made a loud rumbling noise and she blushed.

“Want to tell me about it?” Steve asked as he went to his kitchenette. “Perhaps over something to eat?”

“I, uh, skipped dinner,” Darcy said as she followed him. He motioned for her to take a seat on one of the bar stools. “I had way too much paperwork to do.”

“I heard about the incident with Natasha,” Steve said as he took a frozen pizza out of his freezer and turned on the oven.

“Yeah, that started the snowball that became the avalanche of a bad day,” Darcy said. “The paperwork from that incident, took up my entire afternoon.”  
Steve turned back to the small cabinet above his fridge and removed a bottle of whiskey and two glasses. He poured and handed her one. 

“I’ll bet,” Steve said, as he put the pizza in the oven. “So how is the guy that Natasha hit?”

“In the hospital wing and likely to remain there for a couple days and then make a full recovery,” Darcy said. “I just hope he doesn’t quit because I have a feeling that his copying and filing duties will fall to me if he does.”

“It doesn’t seem like it should,” Steve said. “It wasn’t your fault. I would never have guessed Natasha was hiding weapons in her cast either.”

“But Coulson expects perfection from his assistant,” Darcy said. “You should’ve heard the lecture he gave me before he left about finishing my work on time and not getting distracted at work. Like I did it on purpose to force SHEILD to pay me overtime.”

Darcy drained her drink and held out the glass for a refill. Steve raised an eyebrow but poured another healthy dose of the alcohol for her.

An hour later, they had polished off the pizza and the bottle of whiskey, and were sitting on his couch. Darcy was feeling tons better. That could be because she’d been fed and watered with adult beverages, or because she was once again curled up against Captain America. But whatever it was, the week and that day in particular was rapidly becoming just a memory. She sighed contentedly and dozed off.

Steve looked down at the woman curled up against him. He couldn’t believe it, once again Darcy was using him as a pillow. This was definitely becoming their thing. If anyone had ever told him that he’d be used as often he had been as a human pillow he’d would have laughed. The strange thing was he kind of enjoyed it. Not many people would let down their guard around him to do something like that. Most of the time, they were in awe of him. Those few who even tried to see him as someone other than “Cap” or “Captain Rogers” had their own issues that precluded them from relaxing around him. Not only did Darcy see him as Steve, most of the time anyway, when she wasn’t looking at him like some sort of piece of meat, and even then that was somewhat enjoyable, she relaxed completely around him. He hadn’t had that in this new life he was forced to make for himself. So what if she got too relaxed and fell asleep against him. He can at least honestly say he’d slept with a woman, even if only in the literal sense.

He looked at her as she went past dozing into true sleep. That wasn’t going to be comfortable long. Steve knew he didn’t have keys to her apartment, and even if he managed to find hers in her pocket, carrying her down the hall, sound asleep, was going to cause more comment in the morning than if he simply let her sleep here. So he picked her up and carried her to his bedroom. He removed the suit jacket, shoes and belt she was wearing and tucked her in his bed.

He went out to his living room and resumed the picture he’d been sketching. It was a study for a painting he was planning. The subject was presently sleeping in his bed. He was going to do one of the way she looked last month, all forlorn and curled on the couch and then one of her laughing with Jane and Natasha. He had seen the three ladies out drinking at a bar the week before the South America thing. Before Natasha had gotten Darcy in trouble. It was midnight by the time he’d finished his sketch, so he cleaned up and went to go to bed.

Once in his bedroom, though he remembered he wasn’t alone. Darcy had snuggled into his bed and tucked his spare pillow under her body. She looked incredibly cute and relaxed. Steve couldn’t help himself, so he bent down to brush a kiss across her cheek. But she chose that moment to roll over and his lips touched hers. 

“Mmm,” Darcy sighed. She snaked an arm out and around his neck. 

Then next thing Steve knew he was on the bed next to her and they were kissing. Not the quick friendly kind but the fully involved romantic kind. Darcy had fully woken now and was trying to get his clothes off.

“You sure know how to wake a girl up, Steve,” Darcy teased as she tried to pull his shirt over his head.

“Um, thanks?” he said uncertainly as he leaned back to let her take the shirt. It finally came free and landed on the floor.

Steve leaned in for another kiss but no sooner had his lips touched hers again, then the alarm on his phone sounded.

“Shit,” Steve said as he pulled back to look at the phone. “Fuck,” he said when he read the message.

 

“That was sort of the idea,” Darcy teased from where she lay studying his back.

“No, that was Fury,” Steve said. “I have to go. Apparently Loki and Dr. Doom are up to something over by Elis Island.”

Steve got up and grabbed his shirt from the floor. It was back on him by the time he straightened up.

“Damn,” Darcy said. “Do you want me to stay here or should I go back to my room?”

“I don’t know how long this will take, so you’d probably better go,” Steve said as he picked up the items he’d removed from her earlier.

She took her shoes from him and slipped them on. “You come by my place when you get back.”

“It might be late,” Steve said as they walked out of his room.

“I don’t care,” she said, taking back her belt and jacket. “I want to know you made it back safe and sound.”

“I will,” he agreed.

He escorted her to her apartment and waited until she was inside before he joined the others at the elevators.

The sky was beginning to lighten by the time Darcy heard a knock on her door. She raced over and opened it to find a battered and bruised Steve standing there.

“Shouldn’t you be in the infirmary?” Darcy asked as she stepped back to let him in.

“There’s nothing they can do to make bruises heal faster than they will here,” Steve said, wearily. “They should be gone by nightfall …”

“Right that protective healing thing you have in your cells,” Darcy said. “Then shouldn’t you have gone to your own apartment?”

“I promised to see you after,” Steve said as he started to pitch forward.

Darcy ducked under his arm and steered him towards her room since there was no way she was going to be able to support him all the way to his own bed. She helped him to sit down on the bed and remove his shoes and pants and into the bed. He took off his shirt and Darcy couldn’t help but stare, and not for the usual reasons. His normally perfect abs now had bruises that looked suspiciously shaped like his shield.

“What happened?” Darcy gasped.

“One of Loki’s minions caught my shield when I threw it and returned it to me full force in the chest,” Steve said. “No wonder most of my opponents go down when they’re hit with Meg.”

“Meg?” Darcy laughed as she tucked the covers around him.

“My shield,” Steve said.

“I gathered that but you named your shield Meg?” Darcy laughed.

“Yeah,” Steve said. “I named it after the most badass woman I knew.”

“Lady Falsworth, right?” Darcy said as she shook her head. It was another piece of the puzzle that was Steve Rogers. No one knew just how complicated this man was. They all just assumed that he was the perfect National symbol and nothing more. The reality was much more complicated, and Darcy was finding that she liked complicated.


	5. Chapter 5

Darcy tried to leave Steve to sleep in peace but he reached out and grabbed her wrist.

“Stay with me?” he asked.

“Sure,” Darcy said. “After I get you something for the pain.”

“I don’t want any laudanum,” Steve murmured. “I want to think clearly.”

“We don’t use that anymore,” Darcy said. “While you were asleep we came up with much better painkillers that don’t cloud the thinking.”

“That’s good,” Steve said. This new world he woke up in continued to surprise him. 

Darcy went to the kitchen and brought back a cup of water and two pills and handed them to Steve. She helped him sit up and take the pills . When he settled back down to sleep she turned out the lights and sat next to him until she was sure he was asleep. Then she got up and started to clean her living room and kitchen. She had kind of neglected that and didn’t really want Steve to think her such a slob since his place had been so gosh darn perfectly clean.

Just before noon, there was a knock on her door. She opened it without checking since it could only be one of about a dozen people who had access to this floor. It was Agent Coulson. Couldn’t he have waited until Monday to continue his lecture? She reluctantly let him in.

“What do you want?” Darcy asked.

“I came by for two reasons, Ms. Lewis,” Coulson said.

“Yeah?” Darcy asked suspicious.

“The first was to apologize for lecturing you last night,” he said. “I found your paperwork this morning when I started to fill out my own on last night’s debacle. I had no idea that Agent Romanov had caused such trouble.”

“Why not? Everyone else had heard of it,” Darcy said.

“I had spent the day going over budgets with Director Fury. No one wanted to interrupt us and apparently you handled it so well no one thought I needed to know until I got the paperwork,” Coulson complimented her.

“Well that is something, I guess,” Darcy replied.

“Really, when I read the report on how you handled it, I was impressed,” the agent said. “It was just what I would have done.”

“Thanks,” Darcy said, relieved that she had done something right yesterday. “You said two reasons?”

“What?” Coulson asked not following her line of thought.

“You said you were here for two reasons. What’s the other?” Darcy explained.

“Have you seen Captain Rogers today?” Coulson asked.

“Why ask me?” Darcy asked, wondering just who knew about her and Steve’s odd relationship.

“Apparently he was hurt but refused medical treatment, muttering about needing to get back to you,” Coulson explained.

“I had a promise to keep,” Steve said as he walked out of Darcy’s bedroom. He’d pulled on his pants but had left the shirt off. The hours of sleep had done wonders for the bruises. They looked like they were a week old instead of just hours, and nearly healed.

Darcy wanted to melt into the floor. Of all the weird situations she had found herself in during the last year this was the strangest. Her boss just caught Captain America coming out of her bedroom barely dressed. She was sure it was against some sort of regulation even if she wasn’t military and wasn’t actually doing anything more than literally sleeping with him. She should try to explain but what to say since she wasn’t even sure just what she and Steve were to each other.

“Captain Rogers,” Coulson said looking from Steve to Darcy and back. “I’m glad to see you’re looking much better than you did this morning.”

“A little sleep does do wonders,” Steve said with a smile. He could appreciate the awkwardness of the situation, but the look on Coulson’s face was somewhat comical. He was pretty sure about the conclusion the Agent had jumped to about him and Darcy. The look on Coulson’s face spoke volumes about just how shocked he was that Steve was in a woman’s apartment and in such a state of undress. Really people these days believed him so naive and incapable of sex that he just wanted to mess with Coulson’s mind. He just hoped Darcy would play along.

Steve walked over to Darcy and kissed her, right on the mouth. Darcy was surprised but went along with it.

“Morning,” Steve said when she pulled back. “Thanks for letting me sleep.”

Steve winked at Darcy and that was when she realized that Steve was trying to mess with Coulson. Somehow this mischievous side of Steve never made it into any of the reports about him. She wondered if anyone else even knew it existed.

“Was there something you needed me for, Agent Coulson?” Steve asked as he slipped his arm around Darcy’s waist and pulled her to his side. Darcy took the hint and put her own arm around him and rested her head against him.

“No. I was just concerned about you,” Coulson answered. He looked from Captain Rogers to his assistant again and wondered just how long this had been going on and how it was going to affect their working relationship.

“I see,” Steve said as he looked at the clock on the wall. “You were so concerned about me, that it took you six hours to find me, when you could have just called my phone or looked up the security footage?”

Darcy was rather proud of Steve for putting Coulson in his place. And for his understanding of modern technology. She had tried very hard to be a good teacher those first few months and while he had understood the technology, she wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to integrate it into his life but it seems he had.

“Well, last I saw you were in the infirmary, so I thought you’d be getting medical help, but then about an hour ago I was there to check on you and Mr. Stark. Imagine my surprise when you weren’t there and they said you refused medical treatment. Then I went to your apartment and you weren’t there,” Coulson explained. “I was concerned that you didn’t make it home after all and tried retracing your steps and that was when Agent Barton explained to me about Ms. Lewis and I came here.”

“Thanks for the concern, but I will be all right by tomorrow night,” Steve said. “The serum …”

“Yes well, I’m glad to see you’re getting the care you need,” Coulson said with a raised eyebrow. “Director Fury would kill me if we lost you again.” Coulson beat a retreat out the door but paused to say to Darcy. “We’ll talk about this on Monday, Ms. Lewis. Enjoy your weekend.”

Once the door closed behind Coulson, Steve and Darcy let out giant laughs. Darcy practically fell over but managed to collapse onto her couch. Steve fell right beside her. Eventually the laugher died out and they turned to look at each other.

“Thanks for playing along,” Steve said. “I’m sick of people thinking I’m a naive little boy.”

“You’re welcome, but a little warning next time?” Darcy said. “Not that I mind being kissed by you, but it was a little awkward in front of my boss.”

“You’re right, I shouldn’t have done that,” Steve said. “Although I think when he first saw me he thought, I’d ditched the infirmary to have sex with you, but then dismissed that thought as soon as he’d had it. Since I’m Captain America and I don’t fuck.”

Darcy looked at in surprise. Sure she had heard him swear before, but it still surprised her, less and less each time. This time most of the surprise came from the bitterness in his voice.

“That can be changed,” Darcy suggested.

“Oh sure, I could go out and find some Captain America groupie and get it on, I believe the phrase is, but really, why?” Steve said. “That would be a recipe for even more tabloid stories about me and I don’t want that.”

“I wasn’t suggesting some random woman, Steve,” Darcy said looking him in the eye.

“You?” Steve asked, somewhat surprised. Sure he knew she liked him and found him attractive but that she might actually want him, sexually, had never occurred to him. Which might explain why he was still a virgin at age 93, granted 65 of those years didn’t count as he had been frozen like a popsicle, but still 28 was a little old to not know when a woman wanted him.

“Come on, it can’t be that big a surprise,” Darcy said. “After all, how close did we come last night before you got called away?”

“I just thought that was you acting out some sort of sleep induced fantasy,” Steve said. “One that you’d regret when you woke up, and that you’d be glad we didn’t do anything.”

Darcy laughed at that. “Seriously? I was awake from the moment you put your lips on me and I knew exactly what I was doing.”

Steve looked at her. “So have I ruined my chances?”

“Not if you really want me,” Darcy started.

“I do want you,” Steve said as he scooted closer to her on the couch.

“You didn’t let me finish,” Darcy said.

“Ok, finish,” Steve said.

“If you want me for me and not just to get some sexual experience,” Darcy said. In the past she’d had no problem with the friends with benefits thing but somehow this time she wanted to be wanted in a relationship and not just as a sexual partner. She wasn’t looking for a grand love but to at least be in like would be nice, since she was fairly certain she was falling in like if not in love with Steve. No one else had ever really put up with her brand of crazy for long.

Steve thought about that for a minute. He could appreciate being wanted for yourself, it was after all the reason he liked Darcy in the first place – she saw him as Steve and not Captain America. The question was could he like her or even love her the way she deserved if they had sex? Was he over what he hadn’t had a chance to have with Peggy? That was the real question. He’d been here in the twenty-first century for months and he was still struggling with what might have been. The truth was it was time to put those feelings away and move on. Sure Peggy would always have a piece of his heart but there were more pieces of that heart he could give and he was sure Darcy had already snagged one for herself.

Steve scooted back from her and said, “I think we need to talk for a bit before we decide anything.”  
Darcy reached over and placed a finger on his lips to quiet him. “Shh. All I need to know is that you have feelings for me. I know you have feelings for your Peggy. We all have baggage and first loves. So yours is over seventy years old. What I need to know is that you have feelings for me beyond the purely physical?”

“I can say without a doubt, that I have feelings for you, Darcy,” Steve said as he looked her in the eye.

“Good. Anything else can wait,” Darcy said as she leaned in to kiss him.

“I don’t know what to do,” Steve said before their lips could touch.

“Good thing I do then,” Darcy said. 

“Very good,” Steve murmured as he finally placed his lips to hers again.

Darcy wrapped her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss. Part of her mind was screaming that she couldn’t believe that she was kissing Captain America and maybe this time it wouldn’t stop with kissing, but the larger part was just enjoying kissing Steve. For a man with limited to no actual practice, Steve was rather good at kissing. Just when Darcy was trying to find a way to climb on to his lap, he used his incredible strength to pull her there so that she was straddling it. She moved her arms from around his neck to his sides as she slid her hands under his shirt. She ran her hands over those impressive abs and up to the pecs. They were firm, just as she had thought they would be. It was rather unreal.  
Steve took his cues from her and ran his hands under her shirt. She was soft and warm. Her skin felt like his mother’s treasured Velvet hat that she had inherited from a rich aunt- smooth and plush. It was a sensation that he had never expected to have.

Darcy pulled back a little and whispered in his ear, “If you don’t want an incredibly awkward first time on the couch, this would be a good time to move into the bedroom.”


	6. Chapter 6

Steve carried Darcy to the bedroom and set her on her feet next to the bed. He turned shy when Darcy took off her shirt and shimmied out of the pajama pants she was wearing. He stepped back and looked away. The sight of her in just her panties was more of the female form than he’d seen since his USO tour days. Not that he tried to see the ladies undress; it’s just that there was little privacy backstage in some of those theaters. So he reacted now like he had then, and kept his eyes on the floor.

“We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to, Steve,” Darcy said forcing him to look at her. That was the thing about Steve, if you were talking to him; he looked you in the eye.

Steve stepped closer to her and bent his head and nearly kissed her but spoke instead, “I want to, it’s just …”

“You’ve never been this close to a nearly naked woman?” She teased.

“That too,” Steve said with a slight smile. “I was going to say, it’s hard to overcome the manners I was taught.”

“You are too cute,” Darcy said, as she leaned up and kissed him.

He knew what to do then and he kissed back, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close. He was a really good kisser and Darcy could have happily stayed that way for quite some time. But his shirt was in the way. His pants too, for that matter. Darcy pulled back from the kiss and before Steve knew what was happening, she had his shirt off and was working on the fasteners to his pants. Steve brushed her hands away and shucked out of the pants, taking the underwear with them, in record time.

“Impressive, Captain,” Darcy laughed, fingering the dog tags that lay against his chest, at the speed he undressed, though the thighs and other parts, that were revealed were a sight to behold as well.

“Comes from always having to change in to the Cap uniform in a hurry,” Steve said as he wrapped his arms around her again.

Darcy let the dog tags fall back in place and wrapped her arms around him and pulled as she fell back on the bed. Steve tumbled down on top of her but caught himself with his hands so he wouldn’t crush her. He liked the feeling of her underneath him. He rolled to one side and ran a hand down her from her shoulder to her knee. He loved the feel of her skin. He repeated the motion, but stopped when he got to her panties.

“Mind if I get rid of these?” Steve asked.

“Not at all,” she replied as she lifted her hips to help him in the removal process. Once the panties were on the floor, Steve turned his attention back to Darcy’s skin. This time he trailed his lips along the line his hand stroked down her side.  
Darcy began to suspect that Steve had more experience than he’d let on. He was doing stuff to her that the few other guys, she’d done this with, had to be told to do. She didn’t really care where or how he’d learned it; she just enjoyed the attention Steve was giving to her more sensitive spots. Then he did something with his tongue that made any further thought impossible. She surrendered to the pleasure he was giving her.

For his part, Steve marveled at the fact that he was there, making love to a woman, and from the noises she was making that she was enjoying it. It was a new sensation, but it was good. It made him feel like a man not just a male member of the human species. Though he enjoyed hearing Darcy fall over the edge into the ultimate pleasure, his own need demanded to be satisfied as well. He followed the demands of his body and joined Darcy in that sated state of bliss.

Several hours later, Darcy woke from her doze. Once again she was using Captain America as a body pillow. It was definitely becoming a habit. But this time they were both naked. She smiled at the memory. Whatever else he was, Steve was a very good lover. 

“Hey,” Steve said quietly, not knowing what the right thing to say in this situation was.

“Hey, yourself,” Darcy smiled up at him.

Steve looked at her smiling face. “So was it …?”

“It was very…” Darcy reassured him. “Where did you learn to do that?”

Steve blushed. “On the War Bonds tour.”

“I thought you said you had never had sex before,” Darcy teased.

“I hadn’t,” Steve answered, the blush deepening. “But it was me and sixty ladies on the bus between cities. The first hour of the first day, they remembered I was there and censored their conversations. After that they forgot I was even there. So I sat in the back corner of the bus and sketched and listened. The ladies would talk. Some about their husbands and some of the looser ones about their boyfriends. They compared techniques and things.”

“That must have been quite the education,” Darcy said with amusement in her voice.

“It really was,” Steve said. 

Darcy’s stomach chose that moment to let it be known that it hadn’t been fed since sometime the night before. She sat up, elbowing Steve in one of the still colorful bruises on his chest. To his credit, the only sign that he felt pain he showed was a small wince which Darcy didn’t see. She was busy trying to get her shirt and panties on.

“I guess it is time for some food,” Darcy said once she was clad in her garments again. “You hungry?”

“I could eat,” Steve said as he slipped on his tidy whiteys.

“You could always eat,” Darcy teased.

“Pretty much,” Steve said.

“Must be that fast metabolism,” Darcy said. “I wish I had one like it.”

“You don’t mean that,” Steve said as he sat down to pull on his jeans.

Darcy came around the bed and sat next to him. “Why do you say that?”

“Oh sure, I heal faster and that’s a good thing,” Steve said looking at the floor. “But you haven’t seen the amount of food I have to eat just to keep from losing any weight.”

“I’ve seen you eat,” Darcy said. “Sure you eat the amount of food a growing teenage boy eats.”

“You’ve seen the occasional meal, sure but did you know I eat about six of those meals a day?” Steve asked.

“Six? Yikes!” Darcy exclaimed. “I guess it’s a good thing that SHIELD picks up the grocery tab.”

“Yeah,” Steve said. “You know I can’t get drunk, but there are times when a person should get drunk and I can’t.”

“I’m sure if you talked to Tony and Bruce that they could come up with some kind of alcohol that was four times as potent,” Darcy said. “If you really wanted to get drunk.”

“I hadn’t thought of that,” Steve looked remarkably chipper at the idea. Darcy was amused by the fact that her boyfriend, and she supposed he warranted the label now, was happy at the idea of getting drunk.

“I would like to not be able to get drunk,” Darcy said. “Because it would mean no hangovers.”

“I also can’t sleep as much as I need to,” Steve said. ‘I go through cycles of getting only five hours a night until I get so exhausted I sleep for twelve hours a night for a week and then it starts over. On the nights where I’m not sleeping much, there is never enough to do. And on days where I’m sleeping more there is always too much to do.”

Darcy looked at him and saw that his shoulders were hunched over and dejected. This was a side of Steve she had never seen. She would venture to say no one had seen him like this. No one wanted to know that Captain America was just a man who was still coming to grips with the ramifications of Project Rebirth. She did the only thing she could and put her arms around him.

“So if you had it to do over again,” Darcy asked. “Would you turn down Dr. Erskine? Knowing what it would lead to?”

Steve thought for a minute. Would he do anything differently?

“I don’t think so. It was the right thing to do,” Steve said. “I couldn’t have staid the ninety pound asthmatic and not done all I could in the face of what others were doing. Not and look myself in the mirror afterwards.”

“Then buck up, soldier,” Darcy said as she got up of the bed and offered him her hand. Not that she could actually help haul him to his feet but it was the gesture. “You made the choices that were right for you and you have the life you were meant to.”

He took her hand and stood next to her and looked her in the eye. “I guess I do.”

“It’s not all bad is it?” Darcy asked.

“No it isn’t,” he said as he moved to kiss her. “Parts of it are very good indeed.” He took her in his arms and kissed her.


	7. Chapter 7

Steve spent the rest of Sunday working on after action reports and whatever else he did after the Avengers were called out to do their thing. He wasn’t sure what was expected of him, now that he’d had sex with Darcy, so he’d let her make the first move. He wanted to go to her and sleep with her, in both senses of the phrase, but was unsure if that would be too clingy or not. He remembered some of the dancers on the USO tour talking derisively abut clingy men and he didn’t want to be one of those.

Darcy worked on catching up on household chores. She really needed the routine of vacuuming and doing laundry to sort out her weekend in her mind. By the time she was done with her third load of laundry (she’d been putting it off for weeks now) it was bed time, if she was going to get any sleep before work in the morning. Steve hadn’t returned but she hadn’t really expected him to. They hadn’t made any plans over breakfast. If she didn’t see him during the day tomorrow, she’d track him down after work. He’d get a day to figure out what he wanted from her but no more than that.

Monday started like most Mondays- her alarm went off and somehow she didn’t have time for coffee before she got to her desk. When she got there, Coulson had placed a note for her to see him in his office. This Monday was going to be worse than usual.

She went to Coulson’s office and knocked. When he called for her to come in, she did. Only to find that Colonel Fury was there as well. Oh great. Her boss and his boss. She must have violated some serious company policy when she slept with Steve. 

“Agent Coulson tells me that he tracked an injured Captain Rogers to your apartment on Saturday,” Fury started. He stared at her.

“Yes, sir,” Darcy said. “He was bruised but not seriously injured. If he had been, I would have made sure he went back to the infirmary, sir.”

“Good,” Fury nodded.

“Why was Captain Rogers in your apartment to begin with?” Coulson asked.

“Because, like he told you, he promised to visit when he got back from the mission so I would know he was safe. But when I opened the door, he looked like he was going to fall and I couldn’t get him back to his own apartment so I put him to bed in my bed,” Darcy explained. “What’s it to you? Why are you so concerned with my personal life? It can’t be out of concern for me, so you must think that Steve is a little boy you have to keep from the big bad woman.”

“I’m just concerned that he might catch something that the super serum won’t be able to fix,” Coulson said.

“Seriously! You think I might give Steve an STD? Did you not have your medical goons test me for everything when I came to work here and did I not pass? Completely disease free?”

“Yes, you did,” Coulson said. “If you put Captain Rogers to bed because you couldn’t get him back to his place, would you explain why I saw him kiss you? If nothing happened?”

“He did that to mess with your head,” Darcy said. “He’s tired of being treated like a National Symbol like the Presidential Seal or the flag he wears on his chest. He wants to be treated like a human and you don’t do that. So when you tracked him down so you wouldn’t have to tell the Colonel here you lost him, he decided to play with your perception of him.”

Fury shook his head with repressed laughter. He always knew there had to be more to Rogers if he’d been friends with Howard Stark. He would have to watch how he treated the good Captain.

“So you’re telling me that there is nothing between you and Captain Rogers?” Coulson asked. “That you aren’t sleeping with him?”

“I’m telling you, that what you saw Saturday had an explanation. Not a good one but still an explanation,” Darcy replied. “Oh, and Steve and I have been sleeping together for about a month.” Colonel Fury and Agent Coulson stared at her, mouths gaping open. “Mostly literally. Until after you left, Agent Coulson.”

A knock sounded on the door just then. It opened a few inches and Steve looked around the door.

“Come in, Captain Rogers,” Colonel Fury called.

Steve walked in and saluted his superior officer and then stood at parade rest next to Darcy.

“At ease, soldier,” Fury said. He took in the Captain and the way he greeted him. Then Fury remembered all the other times he had interacted with Captain Rogers. What Ms. Lewis was saying about the way he and everyone at S.H.I.E.L.D. treated the man before him made sense.

“You wanted to see me, Sir?” Steve asked, respectfully.

“Yes, Captain,” Fury said. “We wanted to know why you kept your relationship with Ms. Lewis a secret, but she’s been explaining that there wasn’t really an inappropriate relationship to worry about.” He raised the eyebrow, daring Steve to contradict him.

“I don’t know what business of yours it is if there was a relationship or not,” Steve said. He exchanged glances with Darcy before continuing. “But there is a relationship now. I don’t think I’d call it an inappropriate one since neither of us are previously attached to anyone else.”

Steve relaxed and shifted slightly towards Darcy. He bumped his shoulder to hers to let her know he was there with her.

“I believe the good Captain is right, Agent Coulson,” Fury said. He was satisfied that Rogers and Lewis knew what they were doing and not going to needlessly disrupt the Avengers with their relationship.

“Very well. Just don’t let it interfere with your work,” Coulson said. He had his doubts but the fact that they were being protective of each other showed that this was more than a fling. He could deal with that, after all Barton and Romanov had a much more tempestuous relationship and that hadn’t destroyed anything yet. 

“I won’t, sir,” Darcy said relieved that the interview hadn’t gone worse. She had been prepared to be fired or at least reassigned to Siberia or something from the way Coulson looked at her when he left her apartment on Saturday.

“To show, I’m not such a hard ass, Ms. Lewis, why don’t you take a personal day,” Coulson said as he looked down at the paperwork on his desk.

“Thank you, sir,” Darcy said as she started to leave.

“And you too, Captain,” Fury suggested.

“Sir,” Steve said with a nod. He followed Darcy from the room.

“You realize that if that relationship breaks up, I’m going to have a hard time replacing Ms. Lewis,” Coulson said to Fury.

“I know,” the Director told his right hand man. “But Ms. Lewis had a point. Who among us sees him as Steve rather than Captain America? Maybe the thing the good Captain needs to feel more at ease with the here and now is Ms. Lewis and her brand of easy treatment?”

“I hadn’t thought of that,” Coulson replied. “If that works then I won’t care if her work suffers.”

 

Outside the office Steve turned to Darcy. “What’s a personal day?”

“You’ve heard of sick leave, right?” Darcy said. Steve nodded. “Well a personal day, sometimes called a mental health day, is a day you take off using one of your sick leave days but you aren’t sick. Sometimes, to stay sane you just have to take a day off and play hooky. Usually you come back more relaxed and ready to do the work you missed.”

“So Agent Coulson and Colonel Fury just gave us a day off to goof off?” Steve asked for clarification, as they walked to the elevators.

“Yes,” Darcy agreed. “You have any idea what we could do to fill the time?” 

“I can think of a few things to do with an unexpected day off,” Steve said. “I’m not sure they’re the same things you’re thinking off though.”

“I’m sure some of our ideas over lap” she laughed. The elevator arrived and they got in. Darcy keyed in the code for the residential floor.

“I was going to suggest a trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art,” he said. “But I don’t think that is on your list.”

“It isn’t but that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be fun” she answered, surprised at his suggestion. “I didn’t know you wanted to spend time with me away from the tower.”

“I know I haven’t given that impression,” he started to say. “But I want to court you properly.”

Darcy didn’t know what to say. She’d never had a man express a desire to spend more time with her then strictly necessary to get her into bed. Here was Steve not only not taking an immediate opportunity to have sex again with her but expressing a desire to court her. Not date her but to court her. They had two different goals in mind. Courting usually lead to marriage and kids and white picket fences. Dating lead to bed and sex.

They arrived at the residential floor and Darcy moved towards her apartment.

“Whatever we do, I want to change out of this suit and get some coffee,” Darcy said as she unlocked her door. “Do you want to come in?”

“Sure,” Steve said. “You change and I’ll make the coffee.”


End file.
